Football: Cal-Ohio State game thread

FINAL SCORE: Ohio State 52, Cal 34. Goff finished 31 for 53 for 371 yards with three TDs. Guiton was 21 for 32 for 276 yards and four TDs and rushed for 92 yards. Ohio State totaled 608 yards.

Cal is 1-2 with a bye week before opening Pac-12 play at Oregon, which is averaging better than 61 points per game.

THIRD QTR: The Buckeyes enter the final 15 minutes leading 52-27. In case you’re curious (or sadistic), Cal hadn’t allowed this many points in a nonconference game since Nevada and Colin Kaepernick scored 52 in 2010.

Cal hasn’t allowed more than that to a non-Pac-12 foe since a 66-0 loss at Alabama in 1973.

Through three quarters, Goff is 26 for 43 for 327 yards.

SECOND QTR: Jordan Hall’s 1-yard plunge makes it 31-14 with 8:2o left in half. Second time it appeared Buckeyes’ hurry-up goal-line offense scored before Cal defense was entirely ready.

More Sonny Dykes subterfuge: Goff comes off field on fourth-and-7 from Ohio St as punt team comes on. But Goff and punter Cole Leininger both wear No. 16, so Buckeyes don’t notice Goff is back on field. His 11-yard completion to Caleb Coleman — freshman WR from St. Mary’s HS-Berkeley — sets up 43-yard field goal by D’Amato on final play at half.

Cal pulls within 31-20 and we still have a game.

Halftime stat leaders: Ohio State had 365 total yards to 291 for Cal. Goff was 21 for 34 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The Bears rushed for 52 yards, led by 21 from freshman Khalfani Muhammad.

FIRST QTR: Ohio State wins the coin flip and defers. Cal will receive the opening kickoff and will defend the north goal.

Cal fans may remember Devin Smith, who just caught that 90-yard TD pass for a 7-0 Buckeyes lead. He was the same guy whose 72-yard TD reception beat the Bears in Columbus last season. Beat redshirt freshman Damariay Drew for the touchdown.

You think Smith would like to play every game of his career against the Bears?

Jeff Faraudo

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And there go all of the Cal state fans heading for the exits. Most should be home before the game is over.

Juancho

I have no expectation Buh will get better. Hes not qualified for the job.

The only similar role was at stanford where harbaugh fired him and hired fangio.

His claim to fame is d coordinator and being decent at nevada ?

Im sorry but our games are fun bc our offense LOOKS GREAT. But our defensive preparation is much worse than the last staff.

Otherwise why are we giving up big first halfs to even pirtland state.

The good so far has been dykes offense and guts on special teams.

DB

I expect the Bears will improve and be competive in a year or two. Goff looks like a fine young QB.
What I don’t expect is Dykes will ever put a good defense on the field. He has a history and he doesn’t care about defense. He wants to win 65-60. He’s never had an even decent defense.

MoreNCsarecoming

You have a bunch of “players” on your team that wouldn’t start at Sac State. Look at how slow #43 is. Look at what a big oaf #55 is. #40 hasn’t made one tackle. Pathetic

Eric

Why was that not a TD to Treggs? Or at least reviewed? Because of control through the end of the play?

Rollonubears

Yep. Also he looked to be bobbling a bit as his left foot touched out.

Eric

It was a great throw – Treggs needs to make that catch. Spread is +16.5 – let’s get it under.

MoreNCsarecoming

No moral victories. OSU could have scored 100 against you.

SteveNTexas

Eric – I did not expect us to win the game-you are correct in that but I hoped for better than this. I did think we had a 50-50 shot at NW playing at home but we lost that one. I figured we would be Portland State by 40 but we barely won.

As for Indiana, its a traditionally poor football program- lucky basketball and soccer make up for it. Indiana at 2-1 is not impressive this year either. My guess is they are a tad bit better than Cal but the rankings don’t go past 50.

I think the difference is expectations. At Indiana no one thinks about the football team. Now and then they have some interesting teams and may be SLOWLY improving. At Cal football is as big as basketball,maybe bigger.We have seemed to be on verge of being good but we always underwhelm. I’m getting old I just don’t know how many “next years” I have left.

Eric

@Steve – then you should be encouraged, not discouraged.

Tedford was discouraging. We lost games we should have won, and except for a single big game, never won a game we should have lost since 2008, and arguably even 2007.

This team is young. That is not an excuse.

Ohio State had four senior OL. Given its is Ohio State, they are highly recruited, and talented. It showed. That is not an excuse. Ohio State has a very good D. While we couldn’t get it done when we needed it, we tested that D. That is not an excuse.

Ohio State was four for four on 4th down tries. That is not an excuse – Meyer has balls, and knew his OL was very good, and he took his chances. We also took our chances – but for the fake punt, none worked. That’s ok – we’ll get a few in later games. Not an excuse. Encouragement for the rest of the season.

I said the two critical drives would be the first two of the third quarter. Ohio State scored, and we went three and out. That was the game right then and there. We stop Ohio State and even score a FG, the game is way, way different. Not an excuse. We didn’t get it done. It happens – Ohio State is a better team. But there was no quit. That was Tedford’s way; that is now over. We still fought, and fought. And it some ways we still had a chance, and our LB made a bad read on a 4th and 1. That’s to be expected with this team, this year.

I agree with you that Indiana is probably slightly better, but I think Cal would blow them out of the water – why? Because we do what it takes to win the game.

This season is going to a struggle. It was always going to be that case. 6-6 was the reach. 5-7 is within range, and still is.

Next season – even better. And where Khalfani barely misses running it back today, there is going to be a game where he takes it to the house.

covinared

A few years ago moron said moala was going to sc because he was too good for Cal. Now he calls him a big oaf.

joey

The bottom line is that Dykes will never take Cal to a Rose Bowl. Why is Cal paying so much for mediocrity? Dykes is a bandaid not a cure. We will waste four years until he is let go because of a nonwinning program. He’ll take Sandy down and we will be looking for a new AD and a new football coach.

SteveNTexas

Eric i hope you are right about us getting better. I appreciate your optimism and hope Dykes is the right choice and Juancho is right that we will have a Top 25 recruiting class.
On a smaller note I see no evidence for your statement that even though IU may be a tad better than Cal this year in football-that Cal does what it takes to win and would blow them out.

discdude

I certainly hope (fill in your favorite name here) isn’t right and that Dykes wasn’t a bad hire. What I do know is that no matter what, any coach they hired was starting this year 1-3. Complain and moan all you want, it was just destined to be (oh wait, if Lane Kiffin had been hired, they’d have been 0-9 through 4 games). This team is very young, very injured on defense, not deep on defense (due to recruiting), and has new coaches and schemes. I’m suggesting you avoid worrying about the Oregon game because that’s going to potentially be even worse than this game, as Oregon imho is even better than Ohio State on offense. Let’s just move to Game 5 and see how they do, I’m still thinking this team will improve dramatically. Then, when the team matures, things will fall into place (though Buh may not be here to see that).

Rollonubears

I’m with you, discodude. It’s time to put the unrealistic fantasies about a bowl bid to rest, and enjoy what so far seems to be a growing, improving team, that may still shock us and get to a bowl, but at least should get better. We are a solid recruiting class and two years away from a good season. We should make a bowl next year with these guys if we stay healthy. To get to the bcs, we are going to have to get better recruits. I think that is at least 3 years away.

CalBearister

For the Dykes haters on this board, you’re idiots. Not sure how much differently I can say it. This program was driven into the ground by Coach Tedford. Dykes’ La. Tech team had a good defense before they graduated everyone so the “Dykes doesn’t care about defense” comments are moronic. Tedford and Clancy gave up 50+ regularly at the end of last year. So grow up and have some patience.

Coach Buh may not be the guy. But I have no beef with Coach Dykes. He’s acknowledged the problem. If Buh can’t fix it soon, I have no doubt Dykes will can him.

Go Bears.

SteveNTexas

Bearister certainly if you’re an attorney you can do better in argument than to call those who disagree with you idiots and morons.

I’m not someone who hates Dykes but haven’t seen any evidence of his coaching skills. His record as a Div one Coach is nothing special.

I also don’t see any evidence we are improving aside from the natural improvement that all college teams go through from the starting game (with many new players etc). Are we improving more than the other Pac 12 Teams?

How do you really know Dykes will be good for us?

Easy Ed

This team is far more creative on offense than last years team. The QB doesn’t look totally confused and more importantly, defenses do not look as if they were in our huddle. That’s the good news, the bad news is that the offensive line does not have a stud like we’ve had in he past. Sonny will get his guys in here and will have the balanced attack he had at Louisiana Tech. We have to run better but you can’t run if your O line can’t open a hole. Our defense? I’d like to see some starters playing before I pass judgment on Buh. Be patient, I really think its going to get better.

Oldskool Blue

Considering the vast majority of the Bears on the field today were freshman and sophomores playing against the 4th ranked team in the country I thinked they played great today. We had a defensive secondary being manned by a couple of good cornerbacks (Jackson and McClure and the rest playing there today were either true freshman, converted linebackers, or converted wide receivers (thanks for leaving us with that mess Tedford). I think it is a miracle we felt like we were even partly in the game today considering our secondary. I’m predicting that when we get Avery Sebastian back next year and Dykes and Buh have some time to teach the young talent they got and/or recruit secondary help that we will be fine. Rest of the defense looked fairly solid against an excellent team today and how bout that offense!! Oregon is gonna be tough but I can’t wait for the second half of this season and then a top 25 ranking next year.

Eric

Yes, we are improving more than the following are improving:

Arizona
Oregon State
U$C
Utah

I think we are on par Colorado’s improvement. Hard to say with Washington State. Oregon is arguably better than last year. UCLA showed a lot today. UW is clearly better (though last year was such a disappointment, it is a bit misleading). Stanford doesn’t look as good. ASU – call me after tonight’s game.

Remember, we were 3-9 against a relatively easy schedule and many upper classmen. Our offense was pathetic; our defense gave up. Compared to where we were after three games last year (1-2, including the horrific loss to Nevada at home), yes we are better – facing much greater obstacles.

Eric

As for Dykes – here is what he did at La. Tech:

5-7
8-5
9-3

I think that would constitute improvement each year.

covinared

Can’t believe some of the comments here, especially with defensive coaching. Accept this is a rebuilding year. We have last years olbs lining up at de against 320 pound tackles. Almost half the projected starters are hurt as well as second stringers. We don’t have the horses yet. Good news is all the freshmen lbs and dbs are getting game time. The future holds promise.

Eric

Dykes’ 2010 first season at La. Tech is something worth considering. La. Tech played at Texas A&M, played at Boise State they year that Boise State came within a missed FG from going to the BCS NC game, and played Nevada with Capaernick (the same year he crushed us). That’s a tough schedule, and he went 5-7.

CalBearister

I can, but calling those who are saying Dykes needs to be fired idiots and morons is just more efficient.

First, Coach Dykes has a five year deal. He’s coached three _____ing games. Those people are all as idiotic as the fan who demanded Chip Kelly be fired after he lost his first game to Boise State. That would have been a great move. So why don’t we give him a year before becoming the typical whiny Cal fans?

Second, Coach Dykes has a five year deal. Unless any of you have the money to buy out his contract, he’s not going anywhere even if it weren’t INSANE to start calling for a coach’s head after three games.

And finally, who would you prefer we have hired? Give me one name of a coach you think should have gotten the job over Coach Dykes?

As for your specific points:

“I don’t see any evidence of his coaching skills.” Really? You don’t see a true freshman QB who’s tossed for over 1,000 yards? You don’t see an offense that’s moving the ball and putting points on the board? You don’t see a guy who took a La. Tech team that wasn’t very good under Dooley and took them to the top of their conference? That slugged it out with A&M last year and could have won? And what makes you the expert in assessing coaching skills to begin with?

“I also don’t see any evidence we are improving aside from the natural improvement that all college teams go through from the starting games.” To repeat, it’s been THREE ______ING GAMES. THREE. What can you tell about a coach in three games? Coach Holmoe didn’t look so bad after three games. 2-1 with a victory over OU and a close road loss to $UC. Want him back?

Here’s the facts. Tedford ran the program into the ground. We were losers with no heart, no fight, and apparently no graduations. He put up 3 whole points against Stanfurd. Then laid a 49-27 turd against Utah. Then lost to Washington 21-13. Then wrapped it up losing 59-17 and 62-14 to the Oregon schools. The whole psyche of the program was broken. No offense, no defense, and special teams worse than that.

In three games under Coach Dykes, I’ve seen the following:

(1) A real QB who can complete passes
(2) Receivers who can catch them
(3) A meritocracy where you start because you can play, not because you’ve been around longer (anyone doubt Tedford would have started Bridgford?)
(4) Ballsy play – and playing to win, not to win the second half.
(5) Vastly improved special teams

On the downside, the defense is pathetic, particularly right out of the gate. Coach Buh needs to get it together. And if it doesn’t improve, I think Coach Buh should be fired at year’s end, if not earlier. And Coach Dykes has acknowledged it’s a problem and needs to be fixed. Oh, and for all the “La. Tech’s defense sucked” talk, look at how they did the last 8 games of 2011. About 15 ppg.

So crap on Coach Buh’s performance thus far, that’s fine with me. But lay off Coach Dykes and the direciton of the program as a whole.

Just my $0.02.

Eric

@discodude – +1

@calbearister – +1

PV Bears

Our defense, especially the secondary has personnel problems ( outside of McClure). Pendergast is a good coach and our D last year was not good either. Buh can only work with what he inherits. I would give Buh a chance to recruit a couple of cycles to see If with more athletic corners and safeties our pass defense will be better. If he can’t coach or recruit then he is not the right hire. I have to admit with the talent at D-line and LB’s our run defense is surprisingly poor and the coaches has to shoulder the responsibilities. Last year our defense was not so good and our offense was just bad. I am glad that our offense is showing a lot of promise. Goff only played 3 collegiate games thus far. That’ll have to make us feel warm and fuzzy. We haven’t had (or developed) such a QB since Rodgers was here. Perhaps because our offense runs so many plays it put a burden on our defense to stay on the field longer. I feel bad that on biggest recruiting weekend in history at Cal the recruits has to see us lose.

707 Bear

Back from the Ohio State home game.

That crowd proves what I’ve been saying for years: Our fan base is as thin as our run defense.

Our section–JJ–is a mostly season ticket area and it was packed with red. The north end zone has even more season ticket holders and it was red too.

Sad.

As always, Eric is wise.

Our student-athletes deserve better.

The Wisdom Cow

Eric, I don’t see why people should not have held some hopes for some upsets. We almost beat tOSU last year in their house. Now, the offense is vastly improved.

All it would take was some reasonable defense and anything would be possible.

We did not get reasonable defense.

Hypothetically speaking, had Dykes somehow been able to keep Clancy, the D would have remained good. For those that like to remind us that Clancy’s D gave up some big scores as well, I say most of those were in large part thanks to the beyond inept offense Tedford kept puttig out there. The time of possession always was crazy lopsided, until Cal would “win the second half” when going against 3rd teamers.

My only, ONLY, problem with Dykes, who was bright enough to know he needed to give the D to someone because it is not his area, lacked enough knowledge to not see Buh was a mistake. I was actually longing for Bob Gregory half way through the 3rd quartertoday.

Without considering the horrendous run defense, how many times did tOSU throw the ball to a RB in the flat, to see two blockers in position to block the only two defenders in the area? Before the ball got there, there would be 3 Buckeyes and only 2 Bears. That’s on Buh.

And Bearister, I did big write ups on Sonny’s La Tech defenses back when I was first concerned. One of the three Ds was decent, because it gambled for turnovers. None were exactly all that good, and their competition was 2-3 good teams, then crap.

Will

It’s three games into a rebuilding season. Anyone freaking out about Sonny Dykes doesn’t know football. Buh is the one who people should not be happy with but I would even give him some time. If he doesn’t get his crap together, then put him on the hot seat. But to get angry at Dykes coming off a 3-9 season seems to harsh. Give him some time.

707 Bear

Yes, the D will be bad this year.

But the vibe from the team is soooo much better. Ted’s team would have folded in the first quarter. We put 500 yards on a top 5 team.

Look how Dykes goes for points at the end of the half.

We need D linemen…stat!

Go Bears!

Daredevil fan

Still on drive home. Game not as fun and competitive as nwestrn but still worlds diff than past few years. This team already has diff culture. There is no give up and they r playing to win. Unfort defense is too inexp and thin to play top teams. Offense is worlds improved although goff had off day. Buh should be on notice that gameplan needs to be better or else. I heard a bunch of interviews in past few days about big plays then d came out and crapped on themselves for first 6 mins. Backup qb was actually not a good qb. He could throw touch passes but no med range passes. We should have been able to gameplan him better. We should ditch 4-3 right now. Anyway still a graat new culture and once defense is fixed ( either w future recruits or coach or both) then we can become special. Til then just promising.

Dan

Not much to add, as I think everything that can be said has been.

CalBearister, Disco and other optimists … We now have something to truly be optimistic about for the first time in 6-7 seasons- if we’re being truthful.

707 Bear – agreed our fan base is WEAK. tOSU took over the stadium, just pathetic and ridiculous.

Eric- preach it brother, preach it. Still the wisest and most articulate on here. Why waste your time with a certain percentage of whiners and pessimists on here. It is really helpless.

Juancho- can’t believe you checked out early. We gotta hang in there, it’ll be sweeter when the big wins start coming. Plus, it’s NEVER the same when you’re not here.

Those calling for Dyke’s head… Really? Please see my comment below, please contact “it” and see if you may attend a home game with “it” and it’s Daddy. I’m sure you’ll be like
thinkers and get along famously.

Moron- you are such a moron.

And a coward. Notice you were nowhere to be found last week when Wazzu beat $C … AT HOME. you never answered my Shaq-ish question… How does Mike Leach’s arse taste.

Eric

@Wisdom,

I think using last year’s game to generate a belief that an upset was likely demonstrates a fundamental difference between I think you are (and others) and where I am (and others).

This team is YOUNG and, by happenstance, has tremendous injuries. You have regularly harped about the switch to 4-3. In a 3-4, considering the injuries to the LBs, do we even have enough to run a 3-4?

Against talented teams, the only chance we would have is if two things happen – one, we make no mistakes anywhere and two, Ohio State made mistakes. That obviously did not happen yesterday. Ohio State basically made no mistakes. They fumbled once, but we immediately gave the ball back (see below). There was one stupid penalty. The QB I think made one bad throw the whole game – which means even when receivers were open, he didn’t overthrow, underthrow, etc. The WRs never dropped passes – see the second TD – an amazing catch. The RBs basically never slipped. Even on bad snaps, the ball bounced their way. On 4th and short, they made it every time. The DBs generally didn’t blow coverage (though, if I were to say OSU made mistakes, it was in the secondary).

By contrast, we made lots of small mistakes or didn’t get the breaks we needed. Goff missed an open Harper for an easy TD. Treggs and Powe dropped TDs. On one big run possibility, Bigelow slipped. Khalfani almost broke it open on a kick return but stepped out. On a third and short on the first drive, WR dropped the ball. On a third and short on the second drive, terrible snap. On several 4th and 1s, we were not ready for the hurry-up (see below) and on one critical one the LB didn’t leave up to the cardinal of trying to tackle the guy with the ball. We cannot win with our team and against OSU if we don’t play perfectly.

But as others have noted, I never thought we were really, truly out until that 4th and 1 option. We got it back to within 11 at the half – that’s entirely respectable and within striking distance. And obviously we fell behind again by 4 scores early in the third, but still scored to bring it within 18 and we needed that stop on 4th and 1. Maybe I was being unrealistic, but that is the result of this team generating excitement.

Last year, Ohio State made lots of small mistakes, but was still leading by 13 at the half. Even the highlight Bigelow run was as much about Ohio State not finishing easy tackles as it was Bigelow making two awesome spin moves. We lost last year just like we lost this year – huge plays against our D (55 yard run, 72 yard pass) – they just came over the course of the game, not right at the beginning. We actually had a much better run game last year – putting aside Bigelow’s two runs, Sofele gained 86 yards. But did you think last year’s offense was better? And we had how many upperclass starting that game? And Ohio State was not as good!

If you expected to win yesterday, or needed a reasonable defensive effort to put us in a place to win, or expect either against Oregon in two weeks, one of two things are true. One, you are more optimistic than everyone else here on this board and you are setting yourself up for tremendous disappointment. Two, you were pissed about the Sykes hire from the beginning, and are simply looking for everything negative. My gut tells me it is the latter, considering the posts you made when Dykes was hired and everything you have said since the season started.

There are things to be critical about. Buh needs to try something radically different against spread-option offenses that can pass. Maybe play a nickel all the time (like I do in EA Sports college football!) Maybe go blitz happy. I don’t know, but something. And I am not happy that two times now – once against NW, and once against OSU, immediately following a turnover Goff has thrown an INT on a deep post-in. Don’t – take the turnover and run the regular, yard churning offense.

But while this team is clearly struggling on defense, and will struggle mightily against Oregon, the three games are against top-15 teams that have had excellent to spectacular offenses. All Cal fans need to understand that we are playing for improvement so that we are competing at the end of the season against U$C and Furd, and creating excitement for next year.

In some ways, it is like the 2003 season. Even with Rodgers, we went 7-6 in the regular season, with a pretty hard schedule and a crappy Furd opponent. We got blown out in some games, lost to Colorado State (the Rams???), gave up 42 points to #7 Kansas State (fire every coach, fire them now!), but pulled off a huge upset (primarily because U$C made huge mistakes). We even lost to Urban Meyer. The bowl game was shoot-out that required near perfection by Rodgers to win. But the buzz was not for 2003, but leading into 2004. With a younger team and harder schedule, 5-7 gets up to the same place. Ohio State is definitely one of the seven losses.

Eric

Sorry for the typos. Still early on a Sunday morning.

DB

Well, since I’ve been called a “moron” for stating Coach Dykes doesn’t care about defense, I guess I might take a moment to respond. I didn’t study at Boalt where they apparently teach name-calling as a line of argument, but I did take statistics, so I’ll base my comment on that.

Last season, La Tech was among the NCAA leaders in total offense, and #120 in total defense. Dead last. That was Coach Dykes third year, playing with his coaches and his recruits. That might not be a coach who puts a lot of emphasis on defense. Even a moron can figure that out. Still, they won nine games and had a nice season with no defense whatsoever.

This year, Cal ranks #9 in the nation in total offense and it has been exciting to watch when the Bears have to ball. I don’t know the defensive standing because the rankings stop at #50, but I know I cringe every time they step on the field. I see a pattern here. I expect Cal’s future under Dykes to be great offense and lousy defense. I could be right or I could be wrong, we’ll see.

I hope in three years his record is 12-0. Like any long-time Bears fan, I have learned to be patient. But watching a team, even a young team, give up 90-yard and 60-yard touchdown bombs in the first few minutes isn’t encouraging. Their performance for the rest of the day was not exactly stellar, either. I’m not expecting stellar because half-way decent would do at this point.

I didn’t say Coach Dykes should be fired. That’s nonsense. First, he was just hired and, second, he hasn’t had a chance to build his own program yet. If he can win 9 or 10 games with nothing but offense, I’m all in. Still, I’m expecting all offense and no defense. Nothing I’ve seen this year or in Coach Dykes’ past would make me change my mind about that.

Juancho

Cal was 116 in total defense going into yesterday.

CalBearister

Name calling is not a line of argument. But “moron” is descriptive of a supposed football fan who starts bitching about coaching three games into the staff’s first season. Sadly, it’s typical in sports, so the anti-Dykes crowd is in good company with unrealistic sports fans across the country.

The fact that La. Tech had a bad defense last year does not prove Sonny Dykes doesn’t care about defense. In fact, if that was true, wouldn’t he have just brought his defensive staff with him to Cal? But what’s that? He changed them. If he “doesn’t care” about defense why would he waste his time?

Coach Dykes may not have good defensive results the last 15 games. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about it. There’s my logical argument. Now go back to being a fair weather complainer.

BlueNGold

This morning’s Chronicle has an article about the total cost of the JT buyout plus the incentives and perks being paid to SD. It comes to over 16 mil. The blowback has already started and I am sure will be substantial. I doubt we will see any major changes in the DIA or its coaching staffs for the foreseeable future, especially involving people currently under contract.